Living the "fit life" is always a daily challenge, and this is my story.

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I can’t believe it is Sunday already! My relaxing weekend is quickly coming to an end! Greg and I watched some more of Big Bang Theory season 6, I got my hair cut, and we started shopping for a new bicycle for me. I think we found one that I really liked and that rode really well. I just took some time to think about it before we spent a lot of money on a new bike for me.

On Friday I met with Sasha, and we worked on a new back work out. My old back routine was getting old, and I was completely bored of it. I was so glad when I walked in, and Sasha said she had a new back work out for me. This new work out is definitely challenging, but it is also a lot of fun to do! Sasha also took an awesome training video of me doing this work out, and she is trying to find a way to send it to me. This way I can post a video of me doing the work out. It is in the works, and hopefully I will have that video for you soon! Until then give this work out a try.

Finally the weekend! I had a wonderful Saturday! I got my hair cut this morning, did a little shopping, ran errands, and watched some college football! I am hoping Penn State can turn around the game again UCF, they really struggled first half! I know you can do it. Let’s go State!

Last week I was very excited when I found out that I won Heather from Better With Veggies giveaway for a Living Proof Shirt! I was even more excited Thursday when my prize arrived in the mail! Living Proof was so fast to ship out my shirt, and the owner even emailed me when it had been shipped! It has been a tough week for me at work, so this pick me up was very welcome! I in fact could not even wait to try out my new beautiful light blue living proof tank. I actually wore it to work out the day I received it!

First let me say that the tank is super comfortable and fits great! The tanks are also true to size. I was a little nervous when submitting my size information, because you never know when you are trying a new brand. I also loved working out in the tank, because the fabric is breathable and light. Of course the tanks are adorable, you know my rule that work out clothes must be cute! I absolutely love this tank! I will be ordering more in the future. One of my favorite things about Living Proof is the motivational quote on the tops. The top that I received says “stronger than you think.” It served as a wonderful reminder during my work out to motivate me to push my limits. Thank you Heather for introducing me to a great brand and hosting a giveaway and thank you living proof for my new favorite work out tank!

Have you tried Living Proof? If you haven’t you can check it out here.

Another day down, and three more days til the weekend! Today was much smoother than yesterday (Thank god!). I felt much better and did not have any issues today. I even got a wonderful work out in. I beasted chest, shoulders, and triceps tonight! Many of you know that my favorite post work out meal is a protein shake to help with muscle recovery. I posted this recipe a while ago, but I have since revised this recipe to make it better! I am posting it here for you in case you want to give it a try! I happen to love this, and I haven’t gotten board of it so I haven’t branched or tried a new recipe yet.

So here it is:

In a blender combine the following:

1/2 a banana

1/4 Cup Oats

1 Tbsp peanut butter (Tried this with almond butter tonight and it was equally delicious for a healthier alternative).

1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder

1/2 scoop chocolate peanut butter protein powder (if you don’t have this you can also just use 1 scoop chocolate protein powder)

Monday’s are always rough, but today was extra rough. Not only was it long, but it seemed today I was dealing with one problem after another. Today was the first day I went to work with my new nutrition changes. Even though I was feeling great over the weekend, I was not feeling so great today. My breakfast which usually leaves me stuffed left me starved. When I got to work, my room was inordinately hot, and I could not seem to get enough water in me. I was constantly thirsty chugging water due to the heat in my room. After first period, I was not feeling well at all. I was nauseous and could feel the shakes coming on, so I tried to eat meal two of the day. It did not seem to help. In fact I seemed to be getting dizzy. I barely made it outside my door where my kids could not see me when I fell to the floor with severe shakes. I could not seem to get back up, and luckily a security guard was close by and came to help. To my horror, the nurse came down with a wheel chair and wheeled me to the other side of the school to the nurses office. I laid in the nurses office for a little bit until color returned to my face while having my blood pressure taken (low) and asked a ton of questions like:

Did you eat breakfast? Yes

What did you eat? Oatmeal, 2 eggs and 2 egg whites

Was this the first time this had happen? No

Have you talked to a doctor about it? yes

What did the doctors do? A bunch of tests that came back as me being healthy

What do you usually do? I need food and water, so I was given some fruit and water to help get my blood pressure back up to normal.

After about half an hour color returned back to my face and I was feeling better. I went back to teach my classes, because I really did not want my classes to be on different pages (this is just a pain in a teacher’s behind). I felt off all day, and I was constantly hungry. I ate everything I brought to school with me by noon. I made it through the day, even with a very tough disastrous fourth period (that is a whole other story). When I got home I called Sasha to see what I could do. We tweaked my nutrition plan to make sure I am getting enough food and to make sure this will not happen again. We added some more vegetables, and if need be we may have to up my complex carbohydrates. My protein intake is exactly where it needs to be for my goals, and I definitely do not want too much protein. To much protein can give you an ulcer! We also moved my personal training this week to Friday to get my nutrition correct, and so I could have time to recover and visit my primary care physician to once again check that I am healthy (yuck I hate the doctor). I listened to my body tonight and took it easy. I even treated myself to a bowl of my favorite ice cream. My body just needed some TLC.

Your body is always trying to tell you something. Don’t ignore it! Has something similar ever happened to you? What did you do?

This weekend is flying by, and I cannot believe that I will be back at work again tomorrow morning! I better get to that grading that I have been putting off all weekend! My husband and I had a wonderful weekend just enjoying each other’s company. Yesterday we went mountain biking at the National White Water Rafting Center in Charlotte, and it was quite an adventure!

It has been a while since I have been on bike, and honestly I do not know what I was thinking when I agreed to go mountain biking. I should have known it had disaster written all over it, because I absolutely hate off roading. We went off roading in a car before, and I did not enjoy the feeling that I have no control and at any moment that the car is going to flip! Apparently, off roading on a bike is transferable! I was not a fan. In fact the first part of our trail I bitched a lot (my poor husband). I felt wobbly on the bike, and my butt was not enjoying going over all the tree roots and bumps on the trail. I was also freaking out, because the trail was really narrow and I felt like it was collapsing in on me. I am pretty sure the first time around I walked my bike more than I rode it. I actually asked my husband if we could just turn around and go back because mountain biking just was not my thing. He encouraged me to keep going and to give it another chance.

Beautiful view along the way!

We eventually stopped off to the side of the trail for some water and a snack. I fully enjoyed my apples and peanut butter and the chance to have my feet flat on the ground! Eventually, though, we had to keep going. This time, though, my husband had me go in front. He saw that I was really struggling an gave me a few tips, like to get my butt off the seat when I went over the bumps and tree roots to help stabilize the bike. He also told me to just look straight ahead and not focus on how narrow the trail was. Turns out this was the turning point of the ride, because finally everything just clicked and I really started enjoying myself. In the last part of the trail, I actually rode my bike instead of walking it and to my surprise I started enjoying myself. I was actually sad when we came to the end of the trail, because I was just getting a hang of it. My husband was completely surprised when I asked if we could do the trail one more time.

The second time around I completely rocked the trail. I rode my bike for the majority of it only getting off a couple of times to let someone go by. When we finished the trail the second time around I had a giant smile on my face. I was actually quite proud of myself. I learned a valuable lesson Saturday. Persistence pays off. If I had thrown in the towel when I was struggling, I would never have found out how enjoyable mountain biking is. I would never have felt the pride and joy of finally having everything click! I owe a giant thank you to my husband for this valuable lesson, because he was my cheerleader the entire time without his encouragement I would have definitely thrown in the towel (Thanks babe! Love you!).

I survived!

I can honestly say that I would go mountain biking again, but I think I still prefer road biking more.

Have you ever wanted to throw in the towel when trying something new? What helped you to keep going?

Happy Saturday! This morning my husband and I had a lazy Saturday morning. We slept in and then got up and enjoyed coffee while watching TV. We then got up and got ready to go mountain biking (more on this tomorrow)! I want to revisit yesterday to share a new leg work out that Sasha walked me through during Personal Training. Yes, that is right I got a new nutrition plan (posted yesterday) and workout all in one day! Friday was a busy day for personal training for me.

TGIF! I always love Friday afternoon’s because it is the start of the weekend. My husband and I have a very busy weekend planned this weekend including mountain biking tomorrow! I started off my weekend great this afternoon by meeting with my trainer Sasha after work!

My trainer and I.

Today Sasha and I sat down to chat about my nutrition. With going back to school and finally being able to fit in six meals a day, I know my metabolism is getting faster because I am always hungry. We made a few minor tweaks to my diet to see if it helps. I will be implementing the changes starting tomorrow! I am going to try this for a couple of weeks before we go back and re-evaluate.

Recently, I have been feeling extra bloated, so I have eliminated greek yoghurt. When I switched milk a few months ago for almond milk this really helped the bloating situation. I am thinking this will be a positive change, plus I am getting kind of sick of my daily plain greek yoghurt. We are also trying to incorporate more greens in my diet. I really struggle with getting enough vegetables, so we are adding at least a salad a day. I love salads, so this will make the more veggies easier I am hoping! Finally, we added an extra serving of protein in the afternoon, to help with my afternoon hunger. Finally, as I get closer to competing in the future, I will eventually have to switch peanut butter for almond butter :(. This will be a tough change for me.

Here is what daily meals should look like for me:Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 egg whites, and oats.